Some of the things you’ll be able to do with Alexa on the Fire TV

When the new Fire TV arrives at customers’ doorsteps this October 5th, one of its best new features will be Alexa voice capabilities. Shortly after, Amazon will be bringing this great new feature to all existing Fire TVs and Fire TV Sticks through the upcoming Fire OS 5 software update. Not all of Alexa’s abilities from the Amazon Echo will work with the Fire TV, but here’s a few of the things we already know you’ll be able to do with Alexa on new and existing Fire TVs.

Music

Alexa will be able to stream music from many sources like your Amazon music library (both purchased and uploaded), Prime music, Prime playlists, Prime stations, Pandora, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, play [Artist/Genre] Prime Station.

Alexa, shuffle [Artist/Album] songs from Prime Music/My Library.

Alexa, play [Artist/Genre] station on Pandora/iHeartRadio.

Alexa, create a new Pandora station for [Artist].

Alexa, play [Radio Station Call Sign/Frequency] on TuneIn.

Alexa, add this song to my library. (For when a song is playing through Prime Stations or Prime Playlists)

Alexa, thumbs up/down. (For iHeartRadio, Pandora, and Prime Stations)

Alexa, next/previous/play/pause/shuffle track.

Audio Books & Podcasts

In addition to music, Alexa can play audiobooks from Audible and podcasts through iHeartRadio. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, play the book [book title].

Alexa, play the audiobook [book title].

Alexa, play [book title] from Audible.

Alexa, read [book title].

Alexa, go back/forward. (To move by 30 seconds)

Alexa, go forward.

Alexa, play the podcast [podcast name].

Lists

Alexa can manage a Shopping List and a To-do List. The lists are synced to Amazon’s servers and can be viewed and managed from anywhere through the Alexa Android or iOS app or through the alexa website. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, add [item] to my Shopping List.

Alexa, I need to buy [item].

Alexa, put [action] on my To-do List.

Alexa, I need to [action].

Alexa, what’s on my Shopping List/To-do List?

Sports

Alexa can give you sports scores and information. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, what was the score of the [sports team] game?

Alexa, did the [sports team] win?

Alexa, how tall is [athlete name]?

Weather

Alexa can give you weather information for the city you’re in or any city you specify. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, what’s the weather?

Alexa, what’s the weather for this week?

Alexa, what’s the weather for Thursday?

Alexa, what’s the weather in [city, state]?

Alexa, will it rain tomorrow?

Alexa, what’s the chance of rain?

Alexa, do I need an umbrella?

Traffic

Alexa can tell you how long it will take to reach a destination. Unfortunately, it can only give you traffic information for one destination, and that destination must be configured with the Alexa app. The idea is you configure it with your most common commute, like your drive to work. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, how is traffic?

Alexa, what’s my commute?

Alexa, what’s traffic like right now?

Questions

Alexa is able to recognize a slew of general knowledge questions. There are too many question types to list here, but for the most part, if you’re wondering something, just ask. You’ll be surprised at what kind of questions Alexa recognizes. Some examples are (find more here):

Alexa, what time is it in [city]?

Alexa, how many calories are in [food item]?

Alexa, what’s the definition of [word]?

Alexa, what’s the capital of [state/country]?

Alexa, who is [name]?

Alexa, when did [historical event] happen?

Alexa, who starred in the movie [movie title]?

Alexa, what year did the movie [movie title] come out?

Alexa, how many ounces are in a cup?

Alexa, what’s the square root of 64?

Wikipedia

If Alexa doesn’t know the specific answer to a question, or you just want to hear general information about something, you can ask Alexa to look something up on Wikipedia. Some voice commands are:

Alexa, search Wikipedia for [thing].

Alexa, Wikipedia: [thing].

Alexa, tell me more. (To hear more than just the intro.)

Much More

There are many more things Alexa can do. Many things will not trigger a visual card to appear on the Fire TV, but are still very handy audio-only responses. You can hear what’s on your Google calendar, ask to hear a joke, interact with a Skill, and listen to a news briefing, just to name a few. One of the first things you should do when you get Alexa on your Fire TV is to simply say “Alexa, tell me what you can do” and go from there.

14 comments

I saw a comment previously, not sure where, but should I assume that everyone is avoiding the Alexa home automation functionality, because Fire TV – Alexa will not currently support it? Hopefully this will come around in the Future? Has anyone seen otherwise, or want to speculate?

You mean that nobody is mentioning it?
I think it would be cool if AFTV doesn’t have all of the Alexa functionality, but relays commands to your Echo if you have one. That would let Amazon keep Echo with more features, but allow AFTV to use them *IF* you have an Echo.

Still wondering about the remote. Is the new one going to always be on so you can give commands without the button?
Example–my kitchen is adjacent to my living room aftv so if I’m in the kitchen can I call out a voice command to start/stop music?

I believe the only way Alexa will work on AFTV is by pressing the mic button. This way it will be compatible 1st Gen AFTV plus “always on” would kill the battery. To me, this design makes perfect sense.

I omitted some of my thoughts because I had previously commented about the same thing.
Yes. It would be a battery killer. In fact,the stock remote as it is now drains batteries pretty quick. But a newer remote, or even better, a simple (and hopefully inexpensive) accessory that might attach to the USB port would bring this tech to where it probably will be in a couple of years. But for now I’d settle for a microphone function that can be made to be always on or on demand.

Thats a valid point. In a reasonable world a device you pay for shouldnt make people the least bit paranoid in their home, but in today the guy who’s a little paranoid is the smarter one.
I also think thats a concern that could be addressed though.